A Boy Named Sue

Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn’t leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and a bottle of booze.
Now I don’t blame him because he run and hid,
but the meanest thing that he ever did was
before he left he went and named me Sue.

Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
and some guy would laugh and I’d bust his head,
I tell you, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I’d search the honky tonks and bars and kill
that man that gave me that awful name.

But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I’d thought i’d stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
and at a table dealing stud sat the dirty,
mangy dog that named me Sue.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a worn-out picture that my mother had
and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
and I said, “My name is Sue. How do you do?
Now you’re gonna die.” Yeah, that’s what I told him.

Well, I hit him right between the eyes and he went down
but to my surprise he came up with a knife
and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
right across his teeth. And we crashed through
the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell you I’ve fought tougher men but I really can’t remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laughin’ and then I heard him cussin’,
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking at me and I saw him smile.

And he said, “Son, this world is rough and if
a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said ‘Goodbye’.
I knew you’d have to get tough or die. And it’s
that name that helped to make you strong.”

Yeah, he said, “Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you’ve
got the right to kill me now and I wouldn’t blame you
if you do. But you ought to thank me
before I die for the gravel in your guts and the spit
in your eye because I’m the nut that named you Sue.”
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win and if I
ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George – anything but Sue.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Shel Silverstein's poem A Boy Named Sue

This is a great poem/song.Did you know that there is a second part. it’s written from dad’s point of view. v. funny. my fav shel poem though is called “the world’s greatest smoke off” if you are a choofa, check it out. some great references to the ‘herb’. Let me know how ya go.

I really like this poem however, I can’t believe you changed the wrods from ” mother fucker” to “nut”. You are changing a classic.
I didnt know Shel Silverstein had died!! I’m writng a schoo paper on him and i found this so far the most informative. I may be only 14 but i can appretiate the talents of those who posses it, Shel Siverstein did. I hope more people can enjoy his work. This site is helping to pass on his stories and let the children who didnt grow up in his time still grow up with his stories, thank you.

i grew up to johnny cah and im still quite young but no matter what his song wll never get old.I am 13 years ld and I’m proud to admit that i love all music includinggood old Johnny C. R.I.P.Johnny Cash and may your music live on with peaceful notes.

Now when you look at my name what comes to mind? Guy or girl? It depends on who poeple know and their point of veiw. I personally don’t know any guy Taylor’s, although I know there are some. I was given a unisex name and not once have I ever thought about. A name is a name, it dosn’t define who you are. If my name was Bob, I would certainly try to hurt the one who gave it to me. Shel puts a certain amount of information in a very understandable and mabea even child like poem. Now, let me ask you, after you have read this. Can you guess my age as well as my gender? I am 12 years old, suprised?

A few days ago I brought a copy of “Where The Sidewalk Ends” from a local charity thrift shop (couldn’t pass up the $1 price). My daughters (17 & 8) and I dissolve with laughter everytime we read from it. My dad has that Johnny Cash LP and I actually remember listening to “A Boy Named Sue”as a child and thinking, “that’s different”. Now knowing that he wrote the song/poems I can see the similar “style”. Very nice!(67oF/19oC)

My mother grew up a huge fan of Johnny Cash to the point where her family nicknamed her Johnny. I just happen to be bored and thought I would read a few poems from Shel Silverstein because his poems are always so interesting in a weird sort of way. I was amazed to find out that Shel Silverstein wrote this poem I think that my mother would love to here where the story came from. I am so glad I found this site!

I’m reading Larson’s book, saw the reference to the real boy named Sue who was one of the attorneys on the Scopes monkey trial. Does anyone know if Silverstein new the story about the Scopes lawyer, Sue K. Hicks? The song refers to Gatlinburg, TN and the trial was in Tennessee?

There really was a boy named Sue according to author Edward J. Larson in his book, “Summer for the Gods – The Scopes Trial”, page 89. He was one of the lawyers that prosecuted John Scopes. He was named Sue by his father in memory of the boy’s mother who died during his birth.

As a retired English teacher I give occasional lectures to community groups on language and related topics, one being names and their origins, and how one’s name relates to self-image. I sometimes start this lecture with a mention of “A Boy Named Sue”. Its humour lies in its absurdity – why would the boy retain the name when he grew up, as if it was like a birthmark, scar or other unchangeable thing? But the cleverness of the poem is of course it isn’t as absurd as all that. Names are very much a part of our identity, given to us by those responsible for our existence, and we don’t lightly abandon or change our name. Parents often do give children awful, pretentious or obscure names, and mostly the kids put up with them all their life. So “A Boy Named Sue” is partly a satire on this. But surnames can be pretty bad too – Belcher, Swindell, Coward, Ramsbottom, Death (all of these originally had innocuous meanings, of course) – yet you’ll find plenty of people in phone books with such names. Again, our name, whatever it is, is part of identity, and surnames in particular link us to ancestors and present families and relatives. Silverstein of course knows these traditions and sends them up in a marvellously humorous but basically fairly gentle fashion.

There’s more to it than meets the eye. At first glance it probably seems funny but what it’s really all about is the relationship between parent and child. The parent sometimes (or maybe most of the times) does things that the child can’t understand, which to him would seem like the wrong thing to do. But in reality, the parent did what he did because it’s what he thought would be best for the child. After all, parents only want what’s good for their children.

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Poem Information

Poet:Shel SilversteinPoem: A Boy Named Sue
Volume:sung by Johnny CashYear: Published/Written in 1969